Introduction to the special issue on ‘Ornamental fish’

Abstract

Ornamental fish are the most valuable fisheries commodity in the world on a unit weight basis, and worldwide the export value of ornamental fish is approximately 350 million USD. Ornamental fish are raised using the same basic technologies and inputs that are used in food fish production, but ornamental fish culture has not traditionally been viewed as being a form of aquaculture. In part, this is the result of the fact that research on various aspects of ornamental fish culture has often not been published in peer-reviewed journals, but rather in books and technical magazines, or it is kept proprietary. The ornamental fish industry has made amazing progress in the areas of spawning and breeding, larval nutrition, and health management that is directly applicable to food fish production, especially of emerging species. Both the ornamental fish industry and the aquaculture community can gain much by bridging the gap between these two sectors of fish culture through exchange of information. Aquaculture Research is taking a step towards this end by publishing papers from Aquarama 2001 – Second World Conference on Ornamental Fish Aquaculture, held in Singapore. Dr Lian C. Lim and Dr Patrick Sorgeloos selected manuscripts and assisted in the editorial process for this Special Issue, and are Guest Editors for this issue.